Best armor and weapon path for Knight?

Sup guys, im almost at the part where im at andor londo, and im getting to that point where i have the ability to start farming green shards, large titanite shards, etc

im a knight, SL50 currently wearing some kind of grim reaper armor from that ceaseless discharge

im looking for a balanced defensive stat set that has high defense, and good resistance, but i still wanna be able to roll when i need to

my fighting style is like a tank, i try and block everything, and i only roll when i know there is basically no way for me to escape a certain attack.

i wear the havel ring so my max load is like 95 or something, so im looking for something that has good D, and allows me to roll when it is necessary

should i go for the Havel set, including the shield?

or should i go after the Giant set?

or the Golem set?

or the Elite set?

what shield should i use?

also, what weapons should i use? i got the uchiganta, should i make it chaos? or magic?

thanks in advance---GT: RED NATION 718

#2heymejimboPosted 11/20/2011 9:04:52 AM

for your armor i wouldnt go for havels because 1. it's ugly as sin and 2. you really dont need that much defense and poise. so it's really up to you which one you think looks the best. i personally think the elite knight set looks pretty good and you can upgrade it with normal titanite. ( i wouldnt upgrade it all the way because slabs should be saved for weapons) now for your weapon if you like the katana i guess stick with it. i found using a bigger sword to have a more rewarding feel. on the bridge the red dragon guards is a greatsword called the claymore. it has a very fast 300 degree coverage horizontal slash for it's r1 attack and the r2 is a powerful lunge that reachers literally like 10 feet and is super useful for keeping enemies away. it's requirements are 16 str and 10 dex. it hits like a truck when fully upgraded and is a very popular weapon for both pve and pvp.

#3heymejimboPosted 11/20/2011 9:10:28 AM

also havel's shield will demand you increase your strength to 50 strength to use it. greatshield of artorias has like 85 stability as well and requires about 34 strength i believe. but honestly even better than those two options is just upgrading any medium shield you like the look of to +14 and they will usually come close to about 80 stability which is more than enough. ( again i would waste a slab on a shield) this way you A. will have a shield that doesnt occupy like 20 pounds of your equip load and B. will still be able to parry with a shield that has more than enough stability for straight tanking

#4KingDre410(Topic Creator)Posted 11/20/2011 9:30:44 AM

heymejimbo posted...also havel's shield will demand you increase your strength to 50 strength to use it. greatshield of artorias has like 85 stability as well and requires about 34 strength i believe. but honestly even better than those two options is just upgrading any medium shield you like the look of to +14 and they will usually come close to about 80 stability which is more than enough. ( again i would waste a slab on a shield) this way you A. will have a shield that doesnt occupy like 20 pounds of your equip load and B. will still be able to parry with a shield that has more than enough stability for straight tanking

oh ok

i think im going to go get the stone armor set, and maybe one of those big shields from the crestfallen merchant today---GT: RED NATION 718

#5BobbyWiselyPosted 11/20/2011 10:03:33 AM

i dont agree with a lot of what is said here

havels armour should never be overlooked the poise on that set is fantastic even just for the poise. i mean wearing the chestpiece alone gives you 47 poise

i do personally feel its not the most stylist armour but thats just my opinion however many people use the chest piece then a mixed selection of other armour to give them a good balance

also if you are wearing the elite knight armour set you cant really not look towards upgrading it to max potential . sure slabs are rare but the last 4 upgraded will get you a bonus of about 20 defence. slightly more if i remember correctly i think you get 10 defense extra for upgrading the chest piece from +9 to + 10 alone.

and lets face it you can get several titanite slabs per playthrough one from stray demon, one from siegmeyers quest and enemies like dark wraiths can also drop them

either way once youve did one play through you can easily do another to get the things you need to finish your build off

the antiquated skirt upgraded should never fail to be mentioned its incredibly overpowered just now. i feel personally it looks silly but many people including myself still wear it in mixed armour sets the defense and other bonuses that gives you is insane for the weight. and although it has no poise you can get enough of this from your other pieces

black iron armour is fantastic when fully upgraded although it takes 44 twinkling titanite to upgrade so this could take several playthroughs already unless you plan to snuggly glitch

also regarding havels shield i do feel you are right at the min regarding parry shields like silver knights and hollow. but they are going to get nerfed so after the patch this arguement wont be so viable

also many people dont like to parry or or not very good at it

if you are going to invest 34 points in strength it seems to me you are better off making your build a strength build so going the extra points to use havels shield is not a waste

artorias has better stability for the points required but havels bonuses in other areas are truly beastly

for many strength builds depending on preference of play style havels may very well be the best shield in the game

i dont think i personally will ever use it but thatsx just me

#6BobbyWiselyPosted 11/20/2011 10:12:33 AM

other sets many people use are the giant set and paladin set i havent used either in a while but if you like the look of them they are viable armour sets

this is just my opinion but i think right now the best chest piece would be +5 black iron or havels

best gaunttlets to be black iron +5

best leggings to be the antiquated skirt +5

best headgear prob also the black iron upgraded or havels

this is all entirely weight dependant of course apart from the antiquated skirt

and at some point many players will simply ignore slight improvements in overall armour effectiveness for stuff they just like the look of which is also comparible

and you cant really be a tank type character without good poise

i hear a lot of this armour is getting nerfed after patch. elite knight and antiquated skirt etc but i have no concrete evidence of this but its understandable if they did this

#7BobbyWiselyPosted 11/20/2011 10:20:48 AM

weapon wise your right claymore is very viable

but you could make a very convincing arguement for the uchi or iato being just as good but with different strengths

and seen the original poster likes katanas there is no real need for him to change as his weapon is very viable. heyjimbo is right you should prob experiment with other weapons also but your current weapon is very solid

i have played multiple playthroughs with both types of weapons and they are equally viable both for PvE and PvP

so this is entirely personal preference. whatever you like best and can land safely and most frequently is whats best for you

if your sticking with katanas at the min id say chaos +5 or +10 fire is prob the best upgrade path or lightning in terms of PvE unless your using a dex/hybrid type build and planning using weapon buffs to compensate for the poor scaling at the min

but again after patch buffed +15 scaling weapons will probably significantly outperform the other options however this remains to be seen

#8heymejimboPosted 11/20/2011 11:07:17 AM

yeah i guess arguing against the havels set just for the looks doesnt make much sense. the poise is in fact astronomical and just about every weapon int he game wont have a chance at staggering you. plus you might actually end up like the look of it. and yeah the katanas are more than adequate but it might look like youre swinging a toothpick compared to your heavy armor. also for your upgrades to the weapon i'd go either fire or lightning since you dont seem to want to bump faith or intelligence. chaos requires you to maintain 10 humanity for the best results and magic/divine weapons scale with int or faith. easiest weapon path to go is lightning as you can farm for titanite chunks in the new londo ruins whenever you want. red chunks youll need to go to lost izalith

#9BobbyWiselyPosted 11/20/2011 12:18:19 PM

true regarding the humanity i persoanlly like chaos better cos it sounds cooler and it it slightly better damage (but picking something cos it sounds cool is not logic id care to give to anyone else) and ive played it enough that i have no problem keeping humanity up

but the difference is so small its not really that important. and most new players could struggle to maintain optimal humanity for chaos weapons so heymejimbo is entirely correct on that point fire weapons +10 would probably be better or lightning elemental wise

there will be lots of viable armour combinations and if your using havels ring you will have access to more or less whatever combination you want and should still be able to roll fine regardless of your endurance

so it will mostly come down to what looks you prefer. how much playthroughs you can be bothered playing regarding getting all your twinkling unless you can be bothered snuggly glitching which many people are doing rather than speed playthroughs

when you manage to get a ring of favour and protection that will prob be a better bet than havels ring. most people prefer this to havels when your endurance is at a reasonable level but depending what level you put your endurance at eventually this is entirely a matter of personal choice

#10BobbyWiselyPosted 11/20/2011 12:22:41 PM

or farm the 2nd black knight at the end of the game if you want red chunks and you dont have enough after izalith